NaLeY: A fAiRy TaLe
by LeoMyLove16
Summary: Nathan and Haley meet and fall in love but we all know they have their differences. Will their relationship survive them? What lies ahead? Will Naley still lead us to believe there is such a thing as true love? Naley obviously! R&R! Chapter 10 up!
1. Taylor's Conquest

**Okay, so here's the deal. I just started writing this story and I was originally going to write it all and then post it when it was done so people wouldn't freak out if I don't update quickly. Then, I realized I was probably getting ahead of myself since I don't even know if anyone will like this. So I wrote the first 2 chapters and I want to see what you all think before I write more. These chapters are also kinda short since I didn't know if I was going to go on with the story. This is my first One Tree Hill story, which, by the way, is the most amazing show ever created…so with that said, here we go…**

Chapter 1: Taylor's Conquest

Sixteen year old Haley James sat in the living room of her family's home in Tree Hill, North Carolina. She sat with her legs crossed on the large off-white sofa, grading the practice test of a girl she was tutoring. It was almost midnight and her parents were out of town for the weekend. Her older sister, Taylor, was no doubt at party with her dumb jock and cheerleader friends. Haley, on the other hand, despised parties. She was perfectly happy sitting alone at home watching reruns of shows like "Roseanne" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" on "Nick at Nite". She wrote a 66 on the practice test.

"Well, it's better than a 56, at least we're making progress" Haley thought out loud.

She put the cap back on her red marker and set the papers that were once on her lap onto the coffee table in front of her. She turned off the lamp that stood next to the couch, pulled a blanket on top of her, and very intently watched her favorite episode of "Full House". An hour or so later the front door opened and closed. Haley heard footsteps approaching the couch. A tall, skinny, dirty blonde haired girl sat down and grabbed the remote from Haley.

"Tay! I was watching that!" Haley exclaimed annoyed.

"Oh come on, Haley, that show is so dumb!" Taylor retorted. She changed the channel to MTV and a rerun of that evenings "Real World" was showing.

"Oh and like this is so much better?"

"It is!" Taylor exclaimed. "It's so…real…"

Haley rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? I'm sorry but you cannot put seven totally opposite people in a house, in a mansion no less, and tell me it's reality TV, 'cause that sure as hell ain't real"

"Oh little sis why so cynical?" Taylor asked with a fake smile.

"Well, maybe becau-" Haley started but Taylor cut her off.

"That was actually a rhetorical question"

"Oh please Taylor, you don't even know what rhetorical means, you just hear me say it to you a million and one times a day"

Taylor ignored the insult. "Well you'll never guess what happened at the party tonight" her words were now starting to slur a bit.

"You're probably right" Haley replied laying her head back down on the pillow and closing her eyes.

"Well do you wanna know?"

Haley's eyes were still closed. "Not really, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me anyway"

"True. Okay so I got really drunk in the first hour I was there and-" Haley cut Taylor off this time.

She rolled her eyes again "Gee, you're drunk? I would've never known"

"Haley!" Taylor yelled. "Retract the damn claws and listen to me"

"Chill Taylor. I was kidding."

"Well your sarcasm is getting on my nerves…so anyways…I got really drunk and we played 'I Never' but that got kinda boring so we played 'Truth or Dare' and I got dared to kiss Nathan Scott, you know, the MVP for the basketball te-"

"I know who Nathan is" Haley said brushing her hair away from her face.

"Okay. So…we started making out for the dare and then later he pulled me aside and kissed me and then he took me upstairs and we well…hooked up"

"Cool" Haley replied without an ounce of enthusiasm.

"Cool? That's all you have to say?" Taylor asked. "Cool?"

Haley sat up. "Well what do you want me to say Taylor? 'How big was it?'"

Taylor giggled drunkenly. "Pretty big…"

"Ugh! Taylor! I didn't really wanna know" Haley shook her head in disgust. "Besides anyone could sleep with him, the guy's practically a welcome mat"

"Yeah but he sure is amazing in bed" Taylor responded. Her eyes were drifting away from Haley, she was dreamily thinking of Nathan when Haley snapped her back into reality.

"Okay Taylor, lets get you to bed" Haley shut off the TV and helped her sister stand up. The alcohol had now taken its full effect and Haley had to help Taylor up the stairs to her room. Once there, Haley laid her sister down on the bed and shut off the light.

"Goodnight Haley" said a very drunk and very exhausted Taylor.

Haley laughed slightly. "Night, Tay" Haley closed the door.

When she entered her room, Haley changed into some black shorts and a red cami top. She looked at her alarm clock as she hopped into bed. 2:30am.


	2. An Unexpected Breakfast Guest

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Breakfast Guest

Haley woke up around 11am the next day. Still in her shorts and cami from the night before, she walked into the kitchen and started making breakfast. She cooked scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast. "The Works" as her mom called it. When everything was done cooking she got herself a plate of food and before she could even sit down the doorbell rang.

"Who the hell could that be?" Haley said as she quickly put her long, golden hair in a messy bun to keep it out of her face. When she opened the door she saw a familiar face from school.

"Hi. Uh. I'm Nathan Scott. I'm looking for Taylor James. Do I have the wrong house?"

"Nope. Taylor's my sister but she's asleep right now. A little tired from you rocking her world last night…so to speak."

Nathan laughed. "She told you about that?"

Haley nodded.

"Well that's the thing. She left her cell phone at my dads beach house and I just wanted to bring it back. It woke me up actually, it's been ringing like crazy. I swear if I hear the ring tone 'Party Like A Rockstar' one more time I might kill myself."

This time it was Haley's turn to laugh. "I'm Haley" she said holding out her hand.

Nathan shook it. "Nathan"

"So, Nathan, I made way too much food and I don't think Taylor will be getting up anytime soon to eat it…so do you want some?" Haley asked.

"Uh. Yeah sure" he replied.

Haley led him into the kitchen and got him a plate. "Get whatever's left"

"Thanks." Nathan got his food and sat down at the table next to Haley.

"So you and Taylor look alike" Nathan said trying to make conversation.

"Well, we are sisters…" Haley replied bluntly.

Nathan laughed. "No, I mean, I just…never mind"

"I'm just messing with you, Nathan" Haley said.

Nathan looked straight into Haley's eyes. It gave Haley this awkward feeling in the pit of her stomach. A good feeling.

"Nice outfit" Nathan said sarcastically taking a bite of food. Then he smiled.

Haley gave him a playful dirty look. "They're pajamas, Nathan"

"I'm just messing with you, Haley" Nathan said mimicking Haley's comment from a minute before.

This made Haley laugh, which in turn made Nathan laugh.

"You have a cute laugh" he said.

"Uh…thanks" Haley replied.

"So what grade are you in?" Nathan asked after swallowing a bite of food.

"11th" Haley answered.

"You're in my grade? That's funny. How come you don't come to any parties? I've never seen you before"

Haley took a sip of her orange juice. "Parties aren't really my scene."

"Oh, That's weird, I mean with Taylor as your sister I figured you'd be a big party girl like her" Nathan took a bite of bacon.

"Nope…so you've never seen me before? I mean, I'm at all your games. Lucas is my best friend. Don't you guys ever talk?"

"Yeah but were not like really close. I mean we're cool but it's just kinda weird you know?"

Haley nodded. "I understand"

"So what about you? If you don't hang at parties what do you do?"

"Um. Actually, I'm a tutor" Haley answered.

"Oh really? That's cool. Maybe you can help me at math sometime then. My pre-cal grade isn't exactly the greatest" Nathan said.

"Yeah. Sure"

Nathan finished his breakfast and got up and rinsed his plate and put it in the sink. "Thanks for breakfast Haley"

"No problem" she replied.

"Hey, do me a favor. Don't tell Taylor I stopped by. Last night was a random hookup and that sounds bad but we were both pretty wasted. I don't want her thinking its gonna be anything more than that. Besides, I'm interested in someone else" he smiled the most beautiful smile Haley had ever seen. His gorgeous, deep blue eyes sparkled. She almost couldn't speak but she managed to stutter out a few words.

"Yeah, sure. I won't tell"

Nathan walked towards that door. Haley followed.

"It was nice to meet you Haley"

"You too" Haley replied.

"I'll see you around" Nathan said as he exited the house.

"Bye" Haley waved and closed the door behind him. She turned around, her back against the door. She didn't know what was going on or what she was feeling but she liked it. The only bummer was that he was interested in someone else. Just then Taylor entered the kitchen.

"Who just left?" she asked.

Haley smiled. "No one" she said quietly.

**So what did you guys think? Good? Bad? I'm in love with Naley so if you guys liked it then I just want you to know that that's primarily what it's going to be. So yeah read and review. Without the reviews I won't know if you like it and if I should continue…so click the submit review button…NOW! haha**


	3. Meet Me After School

**Alright. Thanks so much for the reviews you guys! They make my day. I posted the story the other night and I woke up at like noon, checked my account and BANG 7 reviews I was like "sheyah!" and then I went to my moms house for the weekend and I checked it today and I was up to 12! haha but anyways I'm glad you like it. These next few chapters are going to be kind of short just because they're sort of leading up to this whole big conflict So don't be bummed cause I already have chapters 4 and 5 written so I should be able to update VERY quickly. So like I said this is a Naley story but the other characters will be in it. To whoever said that they hope there will be a little Leyton, I'm so sorry but I'm more of a Brucas fan myself. I really hope this doesn't change anybody's opinion of the story because this is a full on Naley fic, the other couples are just there so its not boring. Anyways here we go chapter 3...R&R! **

Chapter 3: Meet Me After School

On Monday, at school, as Haley was putting her history book away in her locker, she turned to see Nathan standing next to her.

She smiled at him.

"Now why is it that after years of going to school together and never seeing you, I can randomly find you the day after we meet?" They both laughed slightly.

Haley gripped the straps of her backpack with her hands. "I'm sure you've seen me Nathan. You just never noticed. It's not that uncommon for people not to notice me" Haley started to walk slowly down the hallway to her next class. Nathan was walking beside her.

He looked at her. "Why would you say that?"

"Nathan, Taylor James is my older sister…I mean honestly…who would _you_ rather hang out with?"

"Honestly?" Nathan asked. "You…"

Haley, not expecting an actual answer, blushed. "Why?" she asked finally.

Nathan stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Because you're different. You're funny and sarcastic and you don't care what people think. It's nice to see a change. I'm so used to drunk chicks trying to get in my pants"

Haley laughed. She knew he was joking about the last part…kind of.

"Thanks" she said sincerely at his compliment. "Well, I gotta go Nathan, the bells about to ring"

"Yeah, me too" he said.

"Bye" Haley said and she turned and walked away from Nathan.

"Hey, Haley?" Nathan yelled to her.

She turned around.

"Meet me after school at your locker, I have to talk to you" he said.

Haley nodded, then waved, and walked to class.

A minute later she entered her chemistry class and sat down next to her lab partner who just so happened to be her best friend Lucas Scott, Nathan's half brother.

"Hey, Luke" Haley greeted her friend, putting her books down.

"Hey, Hales. Where were you yesterday? I stopped by to see if you wanted to hang out but Taylor said you were out and you didn't answer your cell"

"Went shopping, cell was dead" Haley replied quickly.

"Thanks for the details" Lucas said sarcastically.

Haley giggled. "No problem"

"So you wanna hang out after school?" Lucas asked.

"I would, but I cant. Nathan needs to talk to me" Haley said. She wrote her name on her worksheet and answered the equations quickly as Lucas spoke.

"Nathan my brother Nathan?" he asked.

"Yup"

"Why?" Lucas was confused.

"No idea" Haley answered.

"Hmm…that's nice" Lucas said. "I guess I'll just go to Brooke's then"

Brooke Davis was cheer captain of the Tree Hill Ravens Cheerleaders and also Luke's girlfriend. They'd been together for almost a year. Haley was kind of jealous of Brooke. Lucas spent a lot of his time with her, and whenever Luke wanted to hang out with Haley it was always times when she was busy. This kind of bothered Haley because it was like someone was trying to take her best friend away. Brooke was nice though, nevertheless, Haley couldn't help but envy her. She was popular and so well liked. Haley secretly wished she could have that without being a Nazi cheerleader and having to prove popularity by getting hammered every Friday and Saturday night.

"Oh, Luke, I forgot to tell you, Peyton wants us to come over tomorrow and help her paint her room. We promised remember?"

"Yeah I remember. Damn that girl and her room. She changes it like every month" Lucas smiled.

Peyton was Lucas and Haley's other best friend. She was also a cheerleader, but she was kind of this tortured artist. She listened to all this emo/underground/indie music and drew her sketches all the time. She was an amazing artist. Peyton lived alone most of the time. Her dad was always out to sea with his job, and though she never admitted it, Haley could tell she really missed her dad. Her mom died when she was like seven and she is still really emotional about it, just because she doesn't really have another parent with her. But Peyton is always at Lucas and Haley's houses. So she has substitute parents and that helped a little.

"Well, that's P. Sawyer for you, always artistically changing anything and everything…but we love her anyway" Haley said.

"True"

"Miss. James? Mr. Scott? Will you get to work and stop chatting?" their teacher approached them.

"Sorry Miss. Hand" Haley said.

"Me too" Lucas added.

They both laughed quietly as the teacher walked away, then continued their work in silence.

At the end of the day Haley waited at her locker like Nathan asked her too.

"Haley" she heard her named called behind her.

She turned around and saw him. "Hey" she said with a huge smile. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Well," he started. "I was wondering if I could take you up on that whole tutoring conversation we talked about yesterday. I just got my pre-cal test back and umm…yeah, I need you" he laughed nervously.

"Sure" Haley said. "But here's the deal: You cannot be late or miss a session, because that's time waiting for you that I'm never gonna get back" she smiled again.

Nathan laughed.

"And. If I'm gonna do this we're gonna do it on my schedule, I'm not gonna change everything I have to do just because the great Nathan Scott has a party to go to" she smirked but Nathan could tell she was serious.

"Got it" Nathan said.

"Alright? Tomorrow then? 6am at the docks."

"Alright. Sounds good. Thanks Haley. This means a lot. I'll see you tomorrow." Nathan waved and walked off towards the gym. Haley knew basketball was awaiting.

**So what did you guys think? Review it, you know that they're well appreciated!**


	4. I'm Not Like Other Girls

**This chapter is mega short (but totally cute!) and I'm so sorry but the next chapter is going to be long and probably the best so far. Actually, I think I'm just going to add that one too just because this one is so short and the next chapter is pretty crazy. PLUS, I wont be home tomorrow to update. I know I had fun writing chapter 5 though. Oh and someone asked how Taylor plays into all this and to answer your question, I wanted a different and random way for Nathan and Haley to meet, something that nobody else has done before. Now Taylor's just in the story to be a part of the at home stuff so its not boring because Taylor's pretty funny. But anyway thanks for the reviews, you know I heart them! P.S: Is anyone else mega psyched about this weeks episode of OTH? I know I am! May Naley go on…aLwAyS aNd fOrEvEr!!!**

Chapter 4: I'm Not Like Other Girls

The next morning Haley waited for Nathan at the docks. He arrived on time with two cups of coffee.

"Here" he said handing Haley one of the cups.

"Thanks…" she replied sweetly.

"Your welcome" he sat down and got his pre-cal book out.

"Now what is it exactly that you don't get?" Haley asked looking at the book.

"All of it…" Nathan answered truthfully.

"Okay, well," Haley smiled. "I guess we'll just start from the beginning then"

When the session for that day was through, Nathan gave Haley a ride to school.

"You know, I really appreciate you tutoring me" Nathan said while in the car.

"Its not a big deal" Haley said.

"It kind of is though, I mean I hooked up with your sister and then told you I was blowing her off and you're still tutoring me, most girls wouldn't do that"

"Nathan I'm not like other girls okay? I don't judge"

"Can I ask you something?" he asked after a long silence.

"Uh. Sure." Haley answered.

"What are you doing tonight?" he asked.

"Me?" Haley asked not believing what she just heard.

Nathan laughed. "No, the other Haley in my car"

Haley laughed too after realizing how dumb she sounded. "Uh, I'm helping Peyton Sawyer paint her room after school, but after that I'm not doing anything"

"How would you like to go out to dinner with me?"

Haley thought for a minute. Taylor had gone on and on about how much she hated Nathan for blowing her off and not calling her after they hooked up, but it was one date. Taylor didn't have to know. What harm could it do?

"I'd like that" Haley said finally.

"Good" Nathan found a parking spot at school and they both got out of the car. Nathan walked Haley to her locker.

"I'll pick you up tonight at 7" he said. Then he smiled, turned, and walked away.

"Nathan wait!"

Nathan looked at Haley.

Haley just thought about something Nathan had said to her the other day. "What about the other girl you were into?"

"There is no other girl" he admitted.

"Wait…what?" Haley asked confused.

"Haley," Nathan laughed slightly. "The other girl was you…" his eyes did that sparkly thing that drove Haley crazy and he headed to class. Haley stood speechless at her locker. _It was her… _


	5. Whatever We Had Isn't There Now

Chapter 5: Whatever We Had Isn't There Now

Haley dressed in what she considered "nice, but casual" clothes. She wore a pair of her sisters tight L.E.I jeans and a nice fitted top that really brought out her perfect shape. She wore her golden hair down and put on just a little bit of make up.

Taylor entered Haley's room. "You look hot! Where are you going so dressed up?" Taylor sat down on the edge of Haley's bed.

"Oh. Uh. Nowhere." Haley said quickly avoiding eye contact with her sister.

"Oh my god! Does little sis have a date?!" Taylor asked excitedly.

"No" Haley lied. "Lucas is taking me somewhere."

"Riiiight" Taylor said exaggerating the "I" in the word. "Like I'm gonna believe that one…you can lie all you want little sis, but you know eventually I'll find out" with that Taylor skipped out of Haley's room.

The grandfather clock in Haley's den chimed 7 times. Nathan would be there any second. Haley took one last look in the mirror. She hoped she looked cute for Nathan. No. Scratch that. She hoped she looked _hot_ for Nathan.

45 minutes passed and Nathan still hadn't shown up. Haley was now starting to get a little nervous. She was worried that maybe something had happened when the doorbell rang. Haley rushed to answer it.

"Hi Hales"

"Luke? What the hell are you doing here?" Haley asked.

"It's good to see you too" he said sarcastically. He entered the house and sat down on the couch in Haley's living room. Haley sat beside him.

"No. Luke seriously. What are you doing here?" Haley asked again.

"Why are you so dressed up?" Lucas asked ignoring his friend.

"Lucas!" Haley said angrily.

"I just came to say 'Hey'. God. What's your problem?" he said putting his hands up in front of him defense.

"Nothing" Haley looked away.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah. Kinda"

"Like a date? Why didn't you tell me? Hales with who?"

"Nathan" Haley said quietly.

"Oh." Lucas said shocked. "Um. Hales, I hate to be the one to tell you this but I just saw Nathan. He was at Brooke's house and he was kind of all over Bevin Mirskey"

Haley looked like she was about to cry. "Really?"

Lucas hugged his friend. "Yeah. I'm really sorry Haley"

Haley wiped a tear away from her eye. "It's cool. Um you know what? I think I'm just gonna go to bed I'm kinda tired"

"You sure?" Lucas asked sincerely.

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow Luke" Haley and Lucas both stood up. Haley hugged him and walked up the stairs to her room at the same time Lucas headed towards the front door. Haley heard it shut as she entered her room.

Haley had now started crying a little harder and it was at this moment she realized that she really liked Nathan. Liked-as in past tense. She washed off the little make up she had on and put on her pajamas. She crawled into bed after turning off the light. She sat awake for hours thinking. She thought about what she would say to Nathan the next day if he approached her, she thought about what would happen at their tutoring session at her house after school, and she thought about why she trusted him in the first place. She knew Nathan Scott's reputation, yet she still thought maybe he was actually into her and that he wasn't going to lead her on and take advantage of her like all the other girls. That was a big mistake…

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Haley opened up her locker and he tapped her on the shoulder. Haley knew exactly who it was. "Don't even talk to me" she said coldly.

"Haley just let me explain" Nathan said calmly.

"I don't wanna hear it and to be honest, I don't really even wanna hear your voice right now" Haley still hadn't even looked him. She shoved her books in her locker and pulled out other ones and put them in her backpack.

"Haley. Don't be like this"

"I can 'be' however the hell I want Nathan…you can go now" Haley finally looked him in the eyes and pointed her finger away from her.

Nathan was now starting to get pissed. "What are you so tweaked about Haley? It's not like we were dating" people in the hallway were now starting to stop and listen to the argument.

Haley slammed her locker shut and turned to face Nathan. She dropped her backpack at her feet and glared at him. "You know what? You're absolutely right. We are not dating. I thought that potentially we could, just because, well, you know, you kind of asked me out yesterday" Haley laughed a little trying to hide her anger but it wasn't possible. "I liked you a lot Nathan and I thought you liked me too, but then, get this, not only do you blow me off, you were with ANOTHER girl when you did so!" Haley yelled. Everyone in the hallway was now listening intently. "AND not to mention you blew off my sister after you slept with her, then you proceeded to ask me out and then blew me off when I was taking a chance with you, even though most girls wouldn't! I can't believe I actually thought you were a cool guy and not at all like everyone said you were. I thought we had a-" Haley searched for the right word. "a connection, but you know what? I was way wrong and whatever I thought we had sure as hell isn't there now"

Nathan could see the hurt in Haley's eyes.

"What about our tutoring sessions?" Nathan asked timidly.

Haley was shocked he was even speaking after all her yelling. "Oh, I'll still tutor you, unfortunately I made a commitment and I'm not going to back down from that just because you're an ass, but just know this: We don't talk about anything but pre-cal…EVER!" Haley yelled coldly.

Nathan was speechless. He never knew someone as nice and sweet as Haley could have so much intensity.

"Oh and Nathan, one more thing, remember how I said I don't judge?"

Nathan nodded.

Haley walked up to him, her face extremely close to his. "I do now…" she whispered.

Haley stormed off to class as Nathan stood by her locker with everyone staring at him.

**SO!!! What did you guys think?! Pretty intense huh? I thought so. I love writing for Haley, she's so witty and sarcastic pretty much everything she says is something I would say so its really easy to write. Well I really hope you guys liked it. I just wanted to also say that I'm leaving for Florida Thursday so I wont be able to update for like a week. I'm going to try to update with chapter 6 Wednesday though. I have it written, I'm just not going to be home tomorrow. When I come back I will have tons of chapters written though so you wont have to worry about me not updating for like a month or anything. I plan on updating the second I get back. But anyways, once again I hope you liked it and wish me luck in Florida. I hope I don't get bit by a shark or anything or wipe out horribly while surfing again…that was kind of bad…haha anyways much love! Review it guys! **


	6. This Feels Right

**Hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews. I'm really glad you like the story so far. I also like how into it you guys get ya know? It makes me happy! Alright so anyways the storyline for this chapter is so incredibly amazing. I hope you guys like it! So here we go…Chapter 6! R&R!!!**

Chapter 6: This Feels Right

Peyton sat down next to Haley at lunch. "So, I heard you yell at Nathan today in the hallway…pretty impressive, I never knew you had it in you to be such a bitch"

"Neither did I" Haley said. She set her fork down and looked at her friend with serious eyes. "And the thing is, what he did isn't that big of a deal, I mean I'm sure he's done way worse, but what I said was for all the girls who didn't say something, you know? I didn't want to be just another girl to him and he needs to know that. I want him to change and if not for himself then for all the people who have to deal with him on a daily basis"

Peyton laughed. "That is so Haley James. I'm proud of you though. You're the one that gets hurt and you still think of others. You deserve better than Nathan, Hales"

"I know but I like him Peyton. I mean not right now because I'm furious, but when I get over it all my feelings for him are going to come rushing back and I don't know what I'm going to do" Haley said sadly, her eyes looking downward.

"Well," Peyton placed her hand on Haley's shoulder. "The Haley James I know would roll with the punches and say what's in her head. It's always worked before, why change now?"

This made Haley smile. "Thanks Peyton"

Just then Nathan walked up to Haley and Peyton.

"Haley? We're still on for tonight right? Our tutoring session?"

"Yeah" Haley said not looking at him. Instead, she was playing with her food.

"What time should I come over?" he asked.

"6. Don't be late. I'm locking the door if you aren't there by 6"

Nathan nodded and walked off.

"I cannot believe you're still tutoring him. That's…ballsy. You got a big heart Haley James" Peyton punched her friend's shoulder playfully and left the table.

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At quarter to 6, Haley walked into the kitchen where Taylor was eating a bowl of cereal.

"Nathan's going to be here in 15 minutes. I'm tutoring him" she said to her older sister.

"I know. I heard the fight. Why didn't you tell me you liked him?" Taylor asked. She set down her bowl.

"You hate him. I didn't want you to get mad"

"Yeah I do hate him, even more so now, but I wouldn't have been mad" Taylor replied. "We're sisters Haley, we tell each other stuff, no matter what."

"I'm sorry" Haley said. She walked over and took a bite of her sisters cereal. "So are you gonna be around tonight?"

"Hell no! Nathan's coming over. I'm getting out of here"

Haley laughed. "Taylor it's Wednesday, where you gonna go?"

"Anywhere but here" Taylor said grabbing her keys. "Call me when he's gone" she smiled and left.

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The doorbell rang a few minutes before 6. Haley answered it.

"Hi Haley" Nathan said.

Haley just walked away, heading toward the stairs and motioning for Nathan to follow her. Nathan closed the door and walked with Haley. They entered her room and Haley flopped down on her bed and groaned. Nathan, still not saying much handed her his pre-cal book. He sat down on the floor and Haley explained the concept of pre-cal quickly but thoroughly.

"Here's a few practice problems. Do them and I'll check them when you're done."

Nathan walked over to Haley's desk, sat down, and started working on the problems. Haley on the other hand, was laying on her stomach, her head resting at the foot of the bed. Her feet were messing with the pillows, lifting them up and down as Nathan worked.

After a few minutes Nathan spoke. "Haley can we please talk about this?" he turned to face her.

"Talk about what? Adding? Multiplying?" Haley fake laughed. "I know you don't mean talk about us because I made it perfectly clear that we talk about math and math only"

"Haley look I'm sorry okay? The truth is that I was scared. I feel something different when I'm with you and that freaks me out. I wish I could take what I did back and I really am sorry"

Haley sat up. She was listening even though she didn't want to be.

"Haley, you make smile and you make me laugh. Girls don't usually have that effect on me. But with you it's different. It's like you're letting me be a different guy" Nathan sat down next to Haley on the bed.

"And I like being that guy Haley, I know we don't know each other that well but if I have this feeling it's gotta mean something doesn't it?"

Haley, without thinking, leaned in and kissed Nathan. Nathan kissed back. Haley wrapped her arms around his neck and Nathan had one hand behind her back and the other one was holding the back of her head, keeping Haley's lips to his. Still kissing, Nathan gently laid Haley on her back. They continued to kiss softly, slowly, but with lots of passion. Haley had never felt this way before. She felt like for the first time in her life nothing else mattered. She wasn't thinking of anyone else, she was thinking of herself and how much she loved the feeling of Nathan's soft lips pressed against hers, occasionally opening his mouth and sometimes pulling away to grasp some air. Thinking of herself and Nathan was the best feeling she could ever imagine.

"Nathan, shouldn't we get back to your tutoring?" Haley mumbled between kisses.

"No" Nathan said somewhat breathlessly. "This feels right" They both smiled and Nathan continued kissing her.

Haley thought it felt right too. At that moment, she wouldn't have given up that feeling for anything in the world.

**So what did you guys think? Did you like it? I hope so! I love Naley…haha but anyways yeah remember I'm leaving for Florida tomorrow so I wont be able to update for a while. Well, review it guys I want to know what you thought about this love filled chapter…only I wouldn't really call it love…….yet! Review it!**


	7. Second Chances, Propositions, and A Date

**Hey guys! Thanks so much for all the awesome reviews! Florida was amazing, incase you were wondering. Haha. I'm all tan now and yeah it was nice. I was at the beach like everyday and when I wasn't, I was watching the season 4 finale of One Tree Hill (which was freakin amazing!) that I Tivod. (sp? Haha) Anyways I know you all are thinking that Nathan and Haley got together way to easily, but I cannot stand it when they aren't together. BUT there will be more drama and problems to come I promise. Haley hasn't changed Nathan into a totally different guy yet sooo yeah. But anyways here we go chapter 7. R&R!!**

Chapter 7: Second Chances, Propositions, and First Dates

Thursday morning before school, Nathan called Haley.

"Hello?" Haley answered her cell phone.

"Hey" Nathan replied.

"What's up?" Haley asked.

"Well, I was thinking that if you were ready I could give you a ride to school"

Haley, holding the phone with her shoulder, was putting her books in her backpack. "Uh, yeah actually that'd be great"

"Cool. I'll pick you up in 10 minutes"

"Okay," Haley set her backpack on her bed, finally giving her shoulder a rest, she held the phone in her hand. "I guess I'll see you soon then"

"Yeah…you will" Nathan said huskily. He knew Haley was smiling on the other end of the phone, he laughed a little and hung up.

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Haley and Nathan walked hand in hand through the halls of Tree Hill High School. They could hear various whispered comments and conversations about them. They walked to Nathan's locker and Haley waited as he got what he needed.

"You free tonight?" Nathan asked as he shut his locker.

"I don't know, are you going to blow me off again?" Haley smiled to show she was kidding.

Nathan moved in closer to Haley. He pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "No, I won't" He said seriously.

"Well, then I'm free, what did you have in mind?"

"Well," Nathan started. He put his arm around Haley. "I was thinking maybe we could go to dinner, you know, have our first official date, then we could go to my house and hang out…my parents aren't going to be home"

Haley laughed. "Why? You want another tutoring session like last night?"

"Aw, I have to wait 'till tonight for that?" Nathan gently pushed Haley against his locker and kissed her, his hands gripping her waist.

Haley kissed back, but after a few seconds she pulled away. "Well, guess we could practice a little between classes"

"That's fair" Nathan replied. They both laughed and Nathan kissed Haley one final time before pulling away. "Well, I better go, I'll see you in a little while, Hales"

"Alright, see you" Haley replied.

"Wow, he called you 'Hales', wonder what that means…" Peyton had just approached Haley as Nathan was leaving.

Haley pushed her friend away. "Shut up!"

Peyton laughed and put her hands up in defense. "Just saying"

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"So how ya been?" Lucas whispered to Haley in chemistry. "I feel like we haven't hung out or even talked for more than 10 minutes in forever"

Haley stopped writing her lab and looked at Lucas. "Yeah, well I guess we've both been pretty busy"

"Yeah. Well, do you maybe wanna hang out tonight? We could play some golf on the roof of the café and get something to eat, just the two of us, like we used to, you know, pre-Brooke"

"Luke, that sounds great and I would love to but I have plans with Nathan tonight"

"Wait, I'm lost, he made you cry, which, incase you're wondering I'm still pissed about, I went off on him at practice by the way. But anyways, now you have plans with him?"

"Well first of all, thanks for sticking up for me and caring. It means a lot, Luke. Secondly, he came over for a tutoring session last night and he apologized and gave this really cute speech and then we kind of…kissed"

"Ew!" Lucas said.

"A lot…" Haley said at the exact same time.

"Weird…so are you guys together then?"

"I dunno…maybe…" Haley replied.

"I don't know maybe?" Lucas questioned.

"Well I'm not just gonna be like 'Yeah, thanks for dinner, by the way are we a couple?'"

"Why not?" Lucas asked.

"Okay one: That's totally weird. two: I don't wanna freak him out. And three: If he said no it would kind of suck"

"Well, I guess that makes sense" Lucas said.

"I'll just have to see how everything goes. I think we're together though, I mean you should have heard him last night, it was so sweet"

"Yeah, can you shut up now? You're making me sick" Lucas scrunched up is face.

Haley laughed and went back to her work.

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After school Haley met Nathan in the gym. He had basketball practice but he told her to stop by so he could let her know what time he was picking her up that night. As Haley entered the gym she heard a loud, excited squeal.

"Tutor Girl!" It was Brooke. She ran over, pom poms in hand and gave Haley a giant hug.

"What are you doing here?" Brooke asked excitedly.

"Just meeting Nathan" Haley said nonchalantly.

"Oh. Right. Your new boy toy. Peyton told me all about it."

Haley glared at Peyton across the gym.

"What?" Peyton questioned with a blank expression.

Haley just laughed.

"So, Tutor Girl, I have a proposition for you" Brooke stated.

"And that would be?"

"You joining the cheer squad"

Haley shook her head. "I don't think so, Brooke"

Brooke groaned and shook her pom poms semi-angrily. "But why?" she whined her infamous whine.

"Brooke, I just don't have the time AND I'm totally not cut out for screaming 'Go team go!'" Haley threw her arms in the air mimicking a cheerleader. "and trying to dance at the same time"

"Practice makes perfect Tutor Girl, you of all people should know that" Brooke grinned.

"No, Brooke"

"Haley, please, please, please!" Brooke begged.

"I said no, Broo-"

"Haley!" Nathan yelled from across the court. He waved his hand motioning for Haley to go over to him.

"Look, I gotta go Brooke" Haley started to walk away but Brooke pulled her arm and forced her to face her.

"Just promise me you'll at least think about it?" Brooke pleaded.

Haley groaned. "Fine! I'll think about it"

"Great!" Brooke jumped up thrilled. "Thank you…now go get your boy toy, Tutor Girl" Brooke slapped Haley's ass which caused Haley to jump. Brooke turned and smiled and walked towards Peyton and the other cheerleaders. Haley shook her head and laughed to herself as she crossed the court to Nathan.

"Hey" he said. He gave her a quick hug. "What was Brooke whining about?"

Haley rolled her eyes. "She wants me to join the cheer squad"

Nathan's face changed from bored to totally attentive in about .5 seconds. "Hales, you should" 

"Why?" Haley asked. "It's not really my thing, Nathan"

"Well, we'd see each other everyday for one thing, get to spend a lot of time together"

"Ugh! Pass…" Haley sneered.

"Ha Ha very funny" Nathan said, his voice full of sarcasm. "And we'd get to see each other at away games, long bus rides with Whitey all the way in front and us in the back, a lot could happen…" Nathan moved in closer.

"Oh really? Wow, you totally just convinced me!" Haley mocked.

"Really?" Nathan asked shocked.

"No, not really" Haley said honestly.

Nathan laughed. "You are like the most sarcastic person I have ever met"

Lucas walked passed them. "Get used to it buddy, sarcasm is like breathing for her"

Haley looked at Nathan and nodded.

"Man, what have I gotten myself into?" Nathan laughed slightly. "Alright, well I'll pick you up at 7 okay?"

"Sounds good" Haley replied.

"Alright see you later" Nathan kissed Haley and walked back to his teammates.

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"Nathan, this restaurant is really nice, maybe we should go somewhere else" Haley said looking at her menu.

"No, it's fine, Haley…order anything you want okay?"

Haley nodded.

"Sooo…what's your favorite color?" Nathan asked.

Haley took a sip of her water. "Excuse me?"

"Well, I don't really know much about you and you don't know that much about me so I thought that maybe this would give us a chance to get to know each other"

Haley laughed. "Okay…my favorite color is green…what about you?"

"That's easy…blue" he smiled his signature smile.

Haley sighed. "Spoken like a true Ravens basketball player" Nathan laughed. "Favorite movie?" Haley asked.

"Uh…probably 'Unbreakable'…you?"

"Dazed and Confused" Haley answered.

"Wow" Nathan said impressed. "Never thought you would like a movie like that…"

"Well Nathan, All I'm saying is that if I ever start referring to these as the best years of my life - remind me to kill myself." Haley smirked.

Nathan laughed. "Nice"

They continued playing for a while but they started running out of questions.

"Wait, I have a good one…what do you wanna do with you're life, like after high school?" Haley said.

"Well, obviously I want to play college ball, at Duke hopefully, if all goes well"

"What if basketball doesn't work out? Then what?"

"I don't know" Nathan answered truthfully. "I guess I never really thought about it, I mean my dads been riding me so long about how important a scholarship is that I guess I've never really thought it wouldn't work out…but enough about that, what do you wanna do?"

"Well, I want to go to Stanford"

"That's it?" Nathan asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, its just that I thought Haley James would have bigger ambitions than just 'I want to go to Stanford'…now tell me what you really want to do"

Haley was quiet for a minute. She never told anybody what she was about to tell Nathan. "Well, I kind of want to be a singer…like record an album and go on tour, see the world and play music"

"That's really cool, Haley"

"Thanks"

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After dinner Nathan and Haley went back to Nathan's house. Dan and Deb Scott were at a banquet, something that had to do with Dan's car dealership.

"Nice house" Haley said as Nathan led her through the halls.

"Thanks…do you want anything to drink?"

"No thanks, I'm good"

"Alright"

Nathan led Haley into the living room. He turned the TV on to Sports Center and set the remote on the table in front of him. They both sat down on the expensive looking couch. He put his arm around Haley and pulled her closer to him. They were quiet for awhile until Haley spoke.

"I've been thinking…I think the reason you haven't thought about doing anything else but basketball after high school is because you think you _can't _anything but basketball…am I right?"

Nathan looked at her. "I don't know…I guess yeah"

"Well, that's not true, because you can do anything and I know that sounds really cheesy and something that a parent says to their kid but something tells me that in the midst of all your free throws and lay-ups, your dad never told you that…"

"No, he didn't" Nathan said.

"Well, I'm saying it, and its true okay?"

"You're pretty great you know that? Come here" he said softly and pressed his lips against Haley's. Haley fell backwards on the couch, Nathan was on top of her. His lips kissed their way down her neck as Haley giggled slightly. Nathan lifted his head up in confusion.

"Sorry," Haley said. "I'm kind of ticklish"

Nathan smiled and pressed his lips to hers again. Haley opened her mouth, allowing his tongue entrance. They continued kissing intensely, Nathan's hands were traveling up and down Haley's thighs, making their way to her waist, they started to unbutton Haley's shirt.

"Nathan…please don't" Haley mumbled softly between kisses.

Nathan ignored her. "Come on, Hales" he continued unbuttoning and started to slide his hand up her shirt.

"Nathan, please I really don't want you to do that" Nathan was still kissing her as she pulled his hand out from under her shirt.

Nathan pulled away and Haley sat up.

"What's wrong?" he asked

"I'm just not ready for that yet" Haley said.

"Haley, its not like we were gonna have sex or anything" he said somewhat annoyed.

"I know, it's just," Haley pushed her hair behind her ears. "It's too soon we haven't even known each other for a week yet…I don't want to rush things, this whole making out on beds and couches and in between classes is all kind of new to me"

"I get that Haley, and I like you, and you like me and I don't mean to pressure you but-"

"No, its fine it's also just…never mind"

"Tell me" Nathan said stroking her face.

"Well, I don't want to do this if we aren't like dating…and I know that's not really fair but if this is just another random hookup and you're gonna bail as soon as I let you get into my pants, which PS wont be for a while, then its not going to work. I like you. I want to be with you, but not just physically…okay?"

Nathan laughed a little. "Haley, I want to be with you too and this isn't a random hookup okay? I guess I'm just used to girls taking off their shirts and giving it up after the first date or a couple drinks. In all fairness though, you did tell me you weren't like other girls"

Haley laughed and gave Nathan a quick kiss on the cheek. "I think I'm gonna go…Lucas had mentioned hanging out tonight but since I already made plans with you I turned him down, but its still a little early so I think I'm gonna walk to the café to see if he's up for a game of mini golf on the roof"

"What are you talking about? Mini golf on the roof? What?"

Haley laughed again. "Never mind…I'll see you tomorrow Nathan"

Haley exited the house and walked in the direction towards the café.

**Well I really hope you liked it! Review it!**


	8. Time to Focus and Time to Party

**Well…I really loved all the reviews except for maybe one, but that's okay I don't expect everyone to like the story. I do just kind of want to say that I know the whole "You can do anything, Nathan" thing was VERY cheesy but it is something Haley would say, especially to someone that she cares about. I'm not a fan of it but I wanted to write it because it shows who the characters are. We all know Dan is a jerk and rides Nathan really hard about basketball and I'm pretty sure has never told Nathan that he's good at anything besides basketball so why shouldn't he have someone be able to tell him that isn't true? Okay now I'm rambling. Well I really hope you like this chapter, its kind of a bummer, but I promised more problems and drama and I fully intend on following through…so here we go chapter 8. R&R!!**

Chapter 8: Time to Focus and Time to Party

It had been 2 weeks since Nathan and Haley's discussion about sex. They continued to be the most talked about couple in Tree Hill, mostly because of their different social circles. Nobody ever thought Nathan Scott, star of the Ravens would ever even speak to someone of Haley's status.

"Nathan, you really need to focus on your game" Dan said. Nathan's mom was on a business trip so he was forced to help his dad cook dinner. Nathan was standing next to the grill as his dad put the steaks on. It was Thursday evening and he really wished he was elsewhere.

"Dad, I am focused okay? Lay off"

"No. I won't, Nathan. This is your future! This is everything you've worked for! Are you really going to let this opportunity pass just because you want to spend time with a girl you're aren't going to care about in a few weeks?"

Nathan huffed. "Dad, you don't know what you're talking about. My game is fine and I really like Haley."

"Nathan, her dad works for the power company. What does that tell you?"

Nathan was now starting to get really pissed. "What? That just because she doesn't have the money we do I shouldn't like her?!"

Dan flipped the steaks. "No, that's not what I meant but-"

"It's exactly what you meant dad! I don't have to choose between a girl and basketball okay?"

"You think that now, but you'll see. Nathan, I am not putting down Haley because she seems like a nice enough girl, all I'm saying is that you like her now, but when you don't and you realize you blew your shot you're going to resent her for it…for taking up your time. There will be tons of other girls, Nathan, but this is your future, you're almost 17 years old, you need to think about basketball and basketball only. There aren't going to be tons of scouts looking at you play, there'll only be a few. You think about that the next time you're out with Haley when you should be practicing…" Dan walked back into the house as Nathan stood alone trying to take in what his father just told him.

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Nathan was laying on his bed twirling a basketball with one finger when his cell phone rang.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey! It's Haley. What are you doing?"

"Um. Nothing. What's up?"

"Well, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come over and hang out"

Nathan, who was still pissed at his dad, couldn't wait to leave the house. "Yeah. I'll be there in 10 minutes"

"Okay, see you then" Haley said and hung up.

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Nathan knocked on Haley's front door.

"Just a second!" he heard a woman's voice.

A few moments later a woman with oven mitts on her hands answered the door.

"Ah, you must be Nathan, come on in"

Nathan stepped in the door. "You must be Mrs. James" Nathan said.

"Please, call me Lydia, none of that 'Mrs.' crap" she held out her hand.

Nathan shook it. "It's nice to meet you Mrs. er…Lydia"

Lydia James laughed. "Atta boy" she patted him on the back. "JIMMY!!" she yelled. "Haley's boyfriend is here!" Haley's mom went back to the kitchen.

Upon hearing the yelling, Haley jumped from her bed to go greet Nathan before her father got a chance to embarrass her. She ran down the stairs and passed her father, almost knocking him down.

She stood right in front of him. "Hi, Nathan" she said out of breath.

Nathan laughed. "Hi, Hales"

"So this is the boy you've been going on and on about?" Haley's father asked.

"Dad! I have not!" Haley protested.

"Right. Whatever you say, Haley Bop…I'm Jimmy James" he greeted Nathan.

"Nathan Scott" Nathan held out his hand and Haley's dad shook it.

"It's nice to finally meet you" Mr. James said. "As I said, Haley's been going on and on about you"

"Oh really?" Nathan smiled at Haley.

Haley groaned. "Excuse me while I go jump off a cliff or something"

Haley's dad laughed. "Haley, I'm kidding…well not really, but we can pretend if you like"

"Oh my god! Dad! Please! Nathan and I are gonna go downstairs and watch a movie." Haley said pulling on Nathan's arm, urging him to follow.

"Okay. Haley look at me" her father said seriously.

Haley turned to him.

"If anything happens…be safe" he started to laugh at his own joke.

"Ugh! Dad! Honestly…" Haley and Nathan walked to the basement door, Haley let him ahead of her as he went down the stairs. Haley, before shutting the basement door, looked at her dad.

"Dad, please don't embarrass me, I really like him"

Haley's dad nodded and she shut the door and went down the stairs.

Nathan was sitting on the couch in the basement when Haley stepped down the last stair. She walked over to him and sat down. "I'm so sorry about that…my parents are really…eccentric"

Nathan shrugged. "They seemed nice" There was silence for a moment but Nathan spoke again. "On and on about me huh?"

Haley buried her face in her hands. "Oh my god. Stop. I didn't go on and on"

Nathan laughed and pulled Haley to him and kissed her forehead. "Why not? I'm not worth going on and on about?"

Haley laughed quietly. "Sure you are" Haley was leaning on his shoulder.

"Wait…was that a sarcastic 'sure you are' or a real one?"

"I guess you'll just have to figure it out won't you?"

"So its gonna be like that huh?"

Haley nodded. "Yup"

"Well then, two can play at that game"

Nathan then proceeded to tickle Haley.

"Oh my god, Nathan stop! I'm insanely ticklish!"

"Sucks to be you then doesn't it, Hales?"

Haley was laughing uncontrollably.

"Please" she managed to scream. "I can't breathe"

Nathan finally stopped.

"God, Nathan, What the hell was that?" Haley was trying to catch her breath.

"I don't know. Guess I felt like touching you"

Haley giggled. "Okay, creepy much?"

"Aw come on Haley, you know I didn't mean it like that"

"Whatever you say…"

Nathan sighed. "Can we just put in a movie or something?"

"I don't really feel like watching a movie…I just wanna talk" Haley answered.

"About what?" Nathan stretched out on the couch and pulled Haley next to him so they were laying very closely side by side on the couch, his arm was around her, just above her waist.

"I don't know, anything"

"Alright, so how 'bout them Ravens?" Nathan asked with a cocky smirk.

Haley jabbed him softly in the side with her elbow. "I'm serious!"

"Okay okay" Nathan said. "Oh I forgot to tell you, I got a 93 on my pre-cal test from yesterday"

"That's great, Nathan" Haley kissed his cheek.

"Well its all on you babe, you're the one that taught me"

"Yeah, but its you're grade, not mine"

"Whatever, I still owe you. Thanks for being my tutor" he kissed her gently on the lips.

"Welcome" Haley replied. She snuggled up against him, burying her face in his chest. "So…you sounded kind of…I don't know…weird when I called you today. Is everything okay at home?" she asked.

"Yeah. I just got in a fight with my dad right before you called"

"'Bout what?"

"It's not important"

"Uh…okay…"

They sat in silence laying together on the couch.

"Hey what are you doing tomorrow? Do you wanna do something?" Haley asked.

"I have practice tomorrow, Haley"

"Oh. Yeah. I forgot. Well would you want to do something afterwards?"

Suddenly, Dan's words echoed in Nathan's ears. _"There will be tons of other girls, Nathan, but this is your future, you're almost 17 years old, you need to think about basketball and basketball only. There aren't going to be tons of scouts looking at you play, there'll only be a few. You think about that the next time you're out with Haley when you should be practicing…" _ Nathan tried to get rid of his father's voice in his head but he couldn't.

"Nathan, hel-lo?"

Nathan turned to Haley. "Huh?"

"What are you spacing out on me?" she laughed. "I said do you want to hang out after practice tomorrow"

"Oh, Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea, Haley" Nathan sat up, which caused Haley, who had still be laying on him to sit up.

"What? Why?" Haley asked, her eyes slightly full of hurt.

"I just, I have things I have to do…in fact, I think I better get home" Nathan stood up.

"Nathan you just got here. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just I have to go okay? I'll see you tomorrow morning before school right? In the tutoring center?"

"Uh, yeah" Haley said quietly.

"Okay see you tomorrow" Nathan turned around and was about to walk up the stairs when Haley spoke softly.

"Nathan are you sure-"

"Yes, Haley, I'm fine" Nathan lied. Clearly things weren't fine.

Nathan turned to go up the stairs again but once more Haley spoke.

"Nathan?"

"What, Haley!" he spat.

Haley jumped and somehow a single tear escaped her eye. She didn't even bother trying to wipe it away, she was trying to figure what happened to her boyfriend.

Upon seeing Haley jump, Nathan felt bad. He walked over to her. "Look, I'm sorry, Haley, I'll see you tomorrow" he gave her a quick kiss and walked up the stairs and she heard Nathan vaguely mumble a polite goodbye to her parents and then she heard the front door shut. Haley sat back down on the couch…confused.

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The next morning Nathan met Haley in the tutoring center. He immediately sat down without saying a word to Haley.

"Hi" Haley said quietly, not making eye contact.

"Hey" Nathan said in the same tone. "Listen, do you think we can finish up a little early today I have to talk to Whitey about something"

"Um, yeah sure"

"Good"

Nathan silently worked on the problems that Haley had made up for him and when he finished he handed them to her so she could check them. She quickly went over the problems correcting the few mistakes and then passed it back to him.

"Good job. You only got 2 wrong and they were just simple mistakes"

"Sweet. Well listen I better go now. I'll see you later" Nathan stood up and packed his things.

"Nathan what's going on? What was up with last night and why are you treating me so different? You're treating me like a tutor"

Nathan looked at her. "You are my tutor Haley"

"I know but I'm more than that to you right?"

"I don't know…" Nathan answered.

"You don't know? What do you mean you don't know? We've been dating for like 3 weeks"

"Yeah and I'm not sure if its such a good idea that we still do"

"What? Why?" Haley's tone was soft and sad.

"Because this whole thing with us is getting in the way of my chances for a scholarship" he said calmly.

"How?" Haley questioned curiously.

"I just, I can't focus if I'm always with you"

Haley looked away, hurt. "This is why I was nervous about getting into a relationship with you" she mumbled under her breath.

"What?" Nathan asked.

Haley looked into his piercing blue eyes. "I said this is why I was nervous about getting into a relationship with you, I mean I finally find a guy I'm happy with, someone that I really like and this happens…"

"Haley, I really like you too. I just need to concentrate on my game. We'll be friends okay? I promise" Nathan walked away. Haley didn't know it, but it hurt Nathan to say those words to her.

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"Psst. Psst. Tutor Girl?" Brooke whispered.

Haley turned in her desk and looked at Brooke.

"Want to go to a party at UNCW with me, Lucas, and Peyton tonight? You could bring Nathan if you want"

Haley shook her head.

"Why not?" Brooke said after a short hesitation. Their history teacher was looking straight at Brooke.

"You know I'm not a party girl" Haley whispered back.

"I know but I thought it would be fun for all of us to hang out together"

"I'm not with Nathan anymore"

"What!? Why?!" Brooke said angrily.

"Miss. Davis could you keep the whispers to yourself and quit distracting others?" the teacher asked.

"Yeah. Sure." Brooke mumbled without eye contact. She was still looking at Haley, waiting for her answer.

Haley didn't want to get in trouble so she mouthed to Brooke "I don't want to talk about"

Brooke nodded and left Haley alone.

After class, Brooke ambushed Haley at her locker.

"So, I'm not going to bug you about what's going on between you and Nathan but I am going to bug you about coming to this party with us because its gonna be really fun and you deserve to experience at least one high school and/or college party in your lifetime, I mean come on, Haley"

Haley laughed at Brooke's rambling.

"No thanks" Haley shut her locker.

"Please? Haley I'm begging you. You're my friend and we never hang out. Why don't we hang out?"

"Uh. Lets see. Here's a thought: You're a cheerleader and I'm a tutor. Make sense now?" Haley said.

"I asked you to be a cheerleader"

"And I politely declined"

Brooke growled. "You know I'm not going to stop asking until you say 'yes', so why don't you save us both a little grief and say 'yes' already?"

"Yeah, cause that's what I'm gonna do" Haley said sarcastically.

Brooke glared and just then out of the corner of her eye, Haley saw Nathan walk by and look at her. For some reason, when she saw Nathan's face she knew she had to go to the party. If she didn't, she would spend her evening probably grading somebody's practice test, wallowing in self-pity and that wasn't what she wanted. She wasn't going to let this whole thing with Nathan bother her. Well, she was going to try anyway…

"Alright alright I'll come to the stupid party" Haley said defeated. What the hell? Brooke was right. Haley deserved a little fun every once in a while.

Brooke smiled wide. "Great I'll come by your house at 8 to help you get ready, because trust me babe, there is no way any of your clothes are going to fly at a college party"

Haley laughed. "Okay"

Just then the bell rang.

"Great. I'm tardy. You are so lucky we're friends, Brooke" Haley said running down the hallway to her next class.

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At exactly 8 o'clock, Brooke and Peyton showed up at Haley's to help her get ready for the party. Brooke brought some of her sluttiest outfits for Haley to try on. After 20 minutes of trying on clothes Haley, Brooke, and Peyton decided on an outfit for her. Haley was wearing a red tube top with a short black skirt.

"Tutor girl, you look totally hot!" Brooke stated.

"Definitely!" Peyton added.

Haley laughed. "You guys stop! Lets get ready to go. Where's Lucas?"

"Oh…yeah…about that…see Lucas isn't much of a party guy either and he sort of changed his mind at the last minute…also, he doesn't know it's a college party and not a high school one"

"Brooke, you're going to lie to your boyfriend?" Haley asked.

"He never asked! Therefore, its not a lie" Brooke retorted.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night…" Haley shrugged. "Well, lets go, it's kind of a long drive isn't it?"

"'Bout an hour or so" Peyton said.

"Well come on!" Haley said.

"Why are you so excited?" Peyton said laughing.

"Because I'm single and going to a college party"

"I'm sorry about Nathan" Peyton said putting her arm around Haley's shoulder.

"Me too" Brooke jumped in, putting her arm around the other side of Haley.

"You guys, it's fine. I'm not gonna late Nathan get to me. I'm gonna have fun tonight"

"Wait a sec" Brooke said. "Where the hell are your parents? I didn't get a 'Hey Brooke how's cheerleading? You and Lucas being safe?' from your dad."

"Ah" Peyton started. "The infamous 'Are you being safe' from Mr. Jimmy James, I've been a victim of it myself many times, but lately when I come over its just been 'Hi Peyton what color is your room this week?'"

Brooke laughed. "Your room does change a lot sweetie…"

"Shut up!" Peyton yelled trying to be serious but she couldn't keep a straight face.

Haley watched as her two friends bickered back and forth. "My parents took their new RV for a test trip. They went to visit my sister Vivian in Florida they wont be back until Monday night"

"Oh" Brooke and Peyton said in unison.

"Now can we stop talking about my parents and get the hell out of here before I change my mind?" Haley asked, hooking arms with both her friends. They all laughed and walked out to Peyton's car.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once at the party, Brooke grabbed some drinks and handed them to her friends.

"Brooke, I kind of wasn't planning on drinking tonight"

"Oh come on, Tutor Girl! What's the fun in that?" Brooke asked.

"Its just drinking isn't my thing"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know" Brooke groaned. "Well I'm drinking, so I guess you're driving home"

"No, I'm not drinking either" Peyton said.

Brooke glared at Peyton. "Traitor" she said bluntly.

Haley grabbed the drink from Brooke's hand. "This is all about fun tonight right?" she asked and then took a swig of the drink. She coughed once the liquid went down her throat. The alcohol was really strong and she had no idea what it was.

"Yeah!" Brooke yelled. "That's what I'm talking about!" Brooke took a sip of her drink as well and closed her eyes as the strong liquid entered her mouth.

The hours passed and the drinks were flowing and Haley was actually having fun. Guys were hitting on her, and although she loved it, they just wanted to hook up and she knew that. She still couldn't help but think about Nathan. She wondered if she was forever going to be an emotional baby when it came to guys, but before she had time to finish her thought Brooke interrupted.

"Time for another shot, Tutor Girl!" Brooke yelled. Her words were slurring and anybody could see that she was totally smashed.

Haley covered her ears. "God, Brooke, yell in my ears why don't you?"

Brooke laughed. "Sorry!"

"Besides…" Haley added. "I've already had like seven of these shot thingies. Cant we drink something else?"

"Oh come on! This is my last drink of the night" Brooke said making the puppy dog face.

"Not me!" Haley yelled and she downed the shot in a matter of seconds.

More time passed and Haley continued drinking. A cute guy introduced her to the world of vodka and Haley was very appreciative. She kept thanking him and asking him what else she could mix it with because it made "Her throat feel like it was on fire"

Haley was visibly drunk as well, but unlike Brooke, she wasn't having problems controlling the volume of her voice, just walking and thinking clearly.

"Maybe you should cut back a little…" Peyton offered.

"Hell no! Tonight is about fun and not letting Nathan get to me…remember?" Haley walked to the nearby keg to grab a cup of beer.

"I think a lot of this whole drinking everything in sight has to do with Nathan" Peyton whispered to Brooke.

"You think?" Brooke said sarcastically.

"I'm kind of worried about her. I mean she's never drank before tonight and we don't know if she can hold her liquor…I mean she's had way to many beers and shots to count, not to mention the whole bottle of vodka she downed about an hour ago. This isn't Haley you know?" Peyton said.

"Well if its about Nathan then she'll get over it soon right?" Brooke slurred.

I think this is bigger than Nathan even, her parents are never home and she tries so hard to make people happy and now she's letting loose…who knows what could happen" as soon as those words left Peyton's mouth they heard a thud.

"Oh my god!" someone yelled.

Brooke and Peyton ran over to see what had happened when they saw Haley laying unconscious next to the keg. People were leaning over her just looking at her lay there.

"Oh my god!" Brooke yelled.

Peyton kneeled down next to Haley. "Haley! Haley! Can you hear me?! Haley wake up!" Peyton yelled. She leaned down and listened to Haley breathe. She was breathing slowly. She started coughing and gagging and Peyton sat her and Haley threw up in a waste basket someone shoved under her face.

"We need to take her to the hospital…she could have alcohol poisoning, remember what happened to Theresa at Bevin's Sweet 16?" Peyton said to Brooke.

Brooke nodded and helped Peyton stand Haley up.

"Brooke, call Lucas and tell him what happened and to meet us at the hospital…someone help me take her to the car" Peyton said to all the people standing around staring. A frat boy took the place of Brooke and helped carry Haley to Peyton's car.

"Lucas, its me" Brooke was half crying. "Look, something is wrong with Haley and we need you to meet us at the hospital near UNCW. Call me when you get this"

Peyton and Brooke immediately took off to the hospital.

"What did Lucas say?" Peyton asked trying not to panic.

"I couldn't get a hold of him. He didn't answer his phone. I called 3 times and finally just left a voicemail." Brooke was sitting in the backseat with Haley resting on her lap.

They were both silent for a while trying to take in all that was happening.

"Call Nathan" Peyton said finally.

Brooke quickly dialed Nathan's number.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Nathan!" Brooke cried.

"Brooke what's goin' on? Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Nathan, Haley drank to much and now she's unconscious and she keeps throwing up everywhere" Brooke was now fully crying.

"Brooke, calm down. Where are you?"

"We're in the car on our way to the hospital. We were at a party at UNCW and now we're heading to the hospital that's right near there"

"I'm on my way" Nathan said quickly and he hung up the phone.

**So what did you guys think? I hope you liked it. I'm leaving for Texas in the morning so I'll be back in a week. Review it guys! **


	9. Little Miss Vodka

**Thank you guys for all the reviews. I'm glad you liked the chapter. So I really don't have to much to say right now so here we go, on with chapter 9.**

**A/N: I do not own the song lyrics. The song is "Walk Into The Sun" by Dirty Vegas. I thought it kind of fit for the scene. (It's a pretty great song, you should check it out if you've never heard it)**

Chapter 9: Little Miss Vodka

Brooke and Peyton sat in the two identical chairs in Haley's hospital room. Haley was still unconscious. She had just had her stomach pumped and they were waiting for Nathan to get there. The doctor entered the room to check on Haley.

"How is she?" he asked the girls.

"She's still unconscious" Brooke answered.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Peyton asked timidly.

"She should be fine. It takes some people longer than others to wake up after the procedure. You girls got her here just in time. Any longer and she could have died. She had a lot of alcohol in her system. Luckily we weren't very busy at the time so we could quickly perform the stomach pumping"

Both Peyton and Brooke nodded.

"Have her parents been notified?" the doctor asked.

"Um. Yeah, we called them, but they're out of town. They're on their way but they won't be able to get here until tomorrow. When do you think we can take her home?" Peyton asked.

The doctor adjusted his glasses and looked at his clipboard. "I'd say she can go home a few hours after she wakes up, as long as she takes it easy. I'm going to have one of the other doctors examine her when she wakes up and if all is well she can go."

"Thank you doctor" Brooke said.

The doctor gave a friendly nod and left the room, closing the door behind him. Brooke looked over at Haley who was on her back, her arms resting on each side beside her, an IV inserted into one of her wrists.

"She looks so helpless" Peyton stated. She grabbed Haley's hand and held it.

"I know" Brooke said sadly. "Where the hell is Nathan?!"

"I'm right here" he said closing the door behind him.

Brooke ran over and hugged him. "Nathan, I'm so sorry its all my fault. Haley didn't want to drink and I kind of made her. It's all my fault, I know I shouldn't have pressured her but I just wanted her to have a good time and now she wont wake up" tears were flowing from her eyes.

Nathan held Brooke in his arms. "Brooke, stop. It's not your fault alright?" he gently pushed her back a little, his hands holding her shoulders. "Listen to me, this is not your fault"

Brooke nodded and sat back down on a chair.

"So…" Nathan started. "Are you guys okay?" he asked looking at both Peyton and Brooke.

Peyton stood up. "Yeah. We're fine. Just scared."

Nathan hugged her. "It'll be fine"

"Have you talked to Lucas?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah. I got a hold of him when I got here. Him and Karen are on their way." Nathan answered.

"Hey Peyton, I'm really thirsty. I think I'm gonna go to the cafeteria and get something to drink. You want anything?" Brooke asked standing up from her chair.

"Uh, Yeah, actually I'll go with you…Nathan you'll stay here and watch her?"

Nathan nodded. "Of course"

Both girls walked quietly out of the room. When they left, Nathan pulled one of the chairs close to Haley's bed. He grabbed her hand a looked at her lying there.

"Haley, you need to wake up" he whispered. "There are people here that need you to wake up. You're gonna be fine…but…the sooner you wake up the happier everyone will be. Peyton and Brooke feel guilty, Haley. They feel like this is all their fault and what makes it worse is that they care a lot about you. I care about you too. I know I have no right to be here, saying these things to you. I've been a jerk but you need to understand how much pressure everyone puts on me." Nathan paused for a while. He buried his face in his hands shamefully. After a few minutes he grabbed Haley's hand again. "I'm a coward for not saying this to your face but…Haley, if I could, I would be with you all the time. I just can't. I can't do it. You don't know my dad, Hales. He is such a…he's a…he's a bully. I just really hope that you can hear this, but at the same time I hope you can't. I'm so confused. I want to be with you so much but I don't want to let my dad down. I don't know what decisions to make and I don't know how to solve my problems. Maybe when you wake up you can tutor me on life, 'cause I sure as hell need it" Nathan laughed a little at his own joke. "I guess more than anything I just want you to know that you didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one with the problems. I'm the one that should be lying here unconscious because I deserve it…just…please wake up, Haley"

Brooke and Peyton entered the room.

"Aw, Nate that was sweet" Brooke said with a smile.

"Oh God, you heard that?" Nathan asked embarrassed.

"You betcha" Peyton said.

"Well, most of it anyway" Brooke added. "But it was still sweet"

"Well, I meant it" Nathan said honestly. Peyton and Brooke sat down and all 3 of them watched Haley in silence.

After a while, Haley's eyes fluttered a little. Her fingers started to twitch, then, slowly, her eyes fully opened.

"Haley" Brooke whispered, moving in closer to her friend.

"Hi" Haley said. Her voice was quiet and raspy.

"How ya feeling?" Peyton asked, rubbing her friends arm.

"Like crap" Haley whispered.

Peyton and Brooke laughed. "Well yeah, you just got your stomach pumped"

Haley looked at Nathan but didn't say anything. He grabbed a cup of water from the nearby table and handed it to her. She took a sip and handed it back.

"I'm gonna go tell the doctor she's awake" Peyton said.

Peyton exited the room and Brooke looked sadly over at her friend.

"I'm really sorry Haley, this is all my fault, I should have never forced you to drink tonight" a few tears were flowing from Brooke's eyes.

"It's not your fault. I wanted to have a good time"

Brooke grabbed Haley's hand. "Well, I still feel awful"

"Well don't…" Haley answered.

"How the hell am I gonna do that, Hales? One of my best friends almost died because of me, how can I not feel bad?"

Haley smiled. "I don't know think about cheerleading, that'll make you Cheery"

Brooke laughed and wiped her wet eyes. "Nice to see you still have you're sense of humor"

Just then, Karen and Lucas entered the hospital room with Peyton and the doctor.

"Hales! Are you okay? I was so worried" Lucas said as he gave her a hug.

Haley nodded. "I'm fine"

"Well, I'd like to run a few tests, just to be sure" the doctor stated. "So, I'm afraid for now visiting hours are gonna have to be over"

"Um, my name is Karen Roe, I'm a good friend of Haley's parents and they kind wanted me to take care of her since they can't be here right now"

"Of course" the doctor said. "I'm afraid the others will have to leave though"

Karen nodded and the doctor took her out in the hall to explain the tests that they were going to run. Everybody else said their goodbyes to Haley.

Lucas gave Haley a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Bye Hales, I love you, and don't ever scare me like that again"

"I won't"

It was Peyton's turn. "Well, Haley James, I think I'm gonna go home and maybe sketch this very eventful situation, while listening the my music that you criticize on a daily basis"

Haley laughed. "Just make sure you make me look good"

Peyton smiled. "You got it"

Brooke hugged Haley. "I'm sorry Tutor-Girl. I never meant for anything to happen"

"I know that, Brooke. Stop apologizing okay? I'm fine."

Brooke followed Lucas and Peyton out of the room, giving Haley and Nathan some time to talk.

Haley was the first to speak. "So you must think I'm pretty stupid huh?"

"Not really…" Nathan answered.

"I just, I wanted to have a good time. I wanted to be a different person and not worry and be cautious. I guess I just took it a little too far"

"Well, everyone makes mistakes, I know I have"

Haley was quiet for a minute. "Nathan, I understand you need time to focus on basketball"

"You do?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm sorry if you felt like I was taking up too much of your time, but if you would've just talked to me about it I could have, I don't know, given you a little space"

"That's the thing. I didn't want space. I wanted to hang out with you"

Haley was quiet.

"Look, Haley. I've been thinking and I'm willing to forget this whole break-up. I want to be with you. I shouldn't have to choose between you and basketball. What is this the 1950s? It doesn't have to be either or"

Haley thought for a second. "I can't Nathan. You really hurt me and I know you didn't mean to but I can't just come running back. I can't just forget this whole thing and run into your arms and let everything be okay. How do I know you won't change your mind in a few days when your dad slams you about practice and the scouts? I can't take chances like that. I'm too much of a girl" Both Haley and Nathan laughed. "Nathan, I would love to be with you, but I think I'm in way over my head. Lets be friends for now and if things change then…I don't know we'll see. You know, I did actually have fun tonight, other than the whole getting completely drunk thing and passing out and getting my stomach pumped, not to mention the massive headache I have right now. Who knows though? Maybe you'll see Taylor _and _me at your next party"

Nathan smiled. "I hope so…and I understand why you want to be friends." he said sincerely.

He reached out and gave her a hug. While hugging her he whispered in her ear. "It's my job to change your mind" he said huskily. He stared into her eyes and smirked his cocky smirk. Haley laughed.

"See you soon, Hales" and Nathan left the room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Haley got back to school a few days later, she ignored the fact that everyone was talking about her. She kept to herself a lot, only really talking to Lucas, Peyton, and Brooke. When people looked at her funny, she'd walk away, not making eye contact. Haley didn't understand why it was okay for other people to get drunk and party on the weekends, but if Haley did it was some epic moment that nobody could shut up about.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Little Miss Vodka" Taylor said as Haley entered her house after a tutoring session. It was almost 8 and her parents were in the other room ignoring Taylor's snide remarks.

Haley glared at her older sister. "Cute" she said sarcastically.

"I don't get it. I've tried forever to get you to go to a party with me and you flat out refuse, then Brooke Davis and that little tortured artist friend of yours invite you to a party and you're all over the idea"

"You know, Tay, I expect this kind of treatment from people at school but not from my own sister"

"I'm sorry little sis but I have to say I'm rather jealous I wasn't there for your first party…" Taylor mockingly frowned.

Haley sighed angrily and walked away. She walked up to her room and slammed the door. She flopped down on her bed and got out her cell and dialed furiously and when there was no answer she left a message.

"Hey Luke. It's me. Umm I just was wondering if you wanted to come over and hang out with me for a while. Taylor's being ultra bitch 3000 about this whole thing and I could really use a friend right now. So I guess just call me when you get this. Bye"

Haley didn't know why she cared so much about what people said about her. She had fun and she let loose and she showed another side of her that people didn't know about. She didn't think that it would make her some alcoholic tutor that needed to be gossiped about 24/7. She stood up and walked over to her massive stereo and turned it on. She took the remote from her dresser and brought it back with her to her bed. Once she was comfortable, in her pajamas, covered up by her comforter in her full-sized bed, she pressed the play button on the remote. When Haley was stressed out, the only thing that could really calm her down was Lucas or music, and since Lucas wasn't answering his phone Haley used the only other alternative she knew. She let the music flow through her ears as she relaxed and closed her eyes.

_Lately I've been feeling different,  
Like I've come from outer space,   
And I notice something missing  
When it's you I can't replace _

_I've been drownin' out the silence  
From the words that people say   
Now I know I could make a difference  
If I could get inside your head _

"Haley" Taylor yelled as she knocked on her sisters door.

"Go away, Taylor" Haley replied.

"No, I need to talk to you" Taylor yelled through the door. "Unlock it, Haley"

"No. I don't feel like talking right now"

"What? I can't hear you" Taylor replied.

_And as I walk into the sun...  
And as I stare across this ocean...   
And as I start a brand new day...  
Will my life ever be the same... again? _

"Sucks" Haley yelled loud as Taylor was able to hear it over the music.

Taylor groaned. "Fine, Haley! That's the last time I try to apologize to you"

_Up ahead there in the distance  
Shadows coming through the haze   
You're the only one that listens..  
To help me break loose from these chains,_

And as I walk into the sun...  
And as I stare across this ocean...  
And as I start a brand new day...   
Will my life ever be the same... again? 

Haley rolled over to her eyes and turned off the stereo and drifted to sleep. Haley's cell phone rang after what felt like only a few minutes.

"Hello?" Haley answered groggily.

"Haley, It's Nathan. I'm sorry for calling so late but I need to talk to you"

Haley looked over at her alarm clock wondering what time it actually was. The clock read 2 am.

"It's okay" Haley whispered. She was still laying on her side, her eyes still closed. She set the phone on top of her ear and let her hands rest down by her face. "What's going on?" she asked, hoping she wouldn't fall asleep on the phone.

"Well. I missed you." Nathan answered honestly.

"That's sweet" Haley replied.

"Do you want to hang out sometime?" Nathan asked.

"Um. Yeah. When?"

"How 'bout now?"

Haley sat up. "Nathan, it's 2 in the morning"

"And I'm outside you're window"

"You're what?!" Haley jumped up and ran to the window. She pulled the curtain aside and looked outside. She saw Nathan looking up at her, smiling. It was raining and Nathan was soaking wet.

"Hi, Hales. You look cute"

"Nathan! It's raining and what are you talking about 'I look cute', I'm in my pajamas"

"And you look hot as hell"

Haley laughed. "Well…thanks. But what are you doing here? I thought we were going to try being friends for a while…"

"And I thought I told you that it was my job to help you change you're mind…"

Haley laughed again. "Nathan…"

"Come on, Hales, have some fun" Nathan said sexily.

"Fine. Give me a minute" Haley hung up the phone and put on a jacket. She opened the window and climbed out on to the garage roof that was right under her window. She shivered from the cold, pouring rain that was hitting her. She then jumped down from the garage roof onto the concrete.

"I'm impressed" Nathan said as Haley walked over to him. "Have you done that before?"

"No" Haley answered. "But, I think you're forgetting who my sister is"

Nathan laughed.

"So it is freezing outside. What's the plan Mr. I'm gonna wake people up at 2 in the morning to hang out?"

Nathan smiled and grabbed Haley's hand. "Lets go for a walk"

"Um…It's raining" Haley replied.

"Thank you Captain Obvious" Nathan said. "Who cares if its raining, that's what makes it fun"

"Whatever you say" Haley said as she started to walk ahead of Nathan.

Nathan pulled her to him and kissed her gently on the lips.

Haley pulled away. "What are you doing?"

"Um. Kissing you"

"Nathan. I want to be friends."

"And so do I. Who says two friends can't kiss every once in a while? Come on Hales, you know you want me" Nathan said laughing.

Haley laughed and pressed her lips to Nathan's. Nathan opened his mouth and enveloped Haley's tongue. His hands were pushing aside Haley's wet hair allowing him to better see her beautiful face in the dark. After a few minutes Haley pulled away.

"God I love rain" Nathan stated.

Haley laughed. "How 'bout we go on that walk now?"

"Fine with me" Nathan grabbed Haley's hand and lead them down the sidewalk.

"Oh and Nathan, just so we're clear, we're still only friends, just because I have an urge to kiss you on occasion doesn't mean we're a couple got it?"

"Yes m'am" Nathan answered as him and Haley walked slowly down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.

**Alright what did you guys think? Good? Bad? Review it guys!**


	10. AUTHORS NOTE

Hey guys…so yeah I've been super busy lately with school and work and stuff and I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, which probably doesn't matter anyways because I only got like 2 reviews last chapter…I mean come on guys 2 reviews? I'm always open for ideas and thoughts if you think the story sucks…just don't bash and make me feel bad because I might cry…no seriously I might. So if you have any ideas let me know. You know where the damn PM button is…just send me a private message. But anyways sorry I haven't updated. Field hockey season is over so I should have a lot more time on my hands now.

I also wanted to ask your opinion of what you think about this new story idea I got. Okay so the other day I was reading like a little sister story, like Lucas and Nathan had a sister and I kind of liked the idea. I've had a little sister story running through my head for a while now and I finally figured out a way to write it and not make it seem super lame. So I had this idea of having a little prologue which could I guess sort of be a little attention getter. So I was thinking the prologue could start out at the river court four years after the gangs graduation but then "the little sister" would be there and she could reflect or "flashback" on life in Tree Hill as she saw it. All the couples and dramas would be the same and all the same things happened to each character it would just be like how the sister saw things. I was thinking of doing like episodes as chapters, like combining the events of a few episodes and making that one whole chapter. Get it? I'm really excited about and it probably sounds super lame if your reading this but in my head it's a lot better. So yeah what do you think?? Just review this I guess and tell me what you think of the idea and if you have any ideas about this one tree hill fic as well because I'm not diggin' this whole 2 reviews of the last chapter bull-shit. Haha. Thanks!


	11. Love Is A Battlefield

**Hey guys! I'm super sorry for the long wait...but there is a much loved romance coming up!! Perhaps even a triangle? Or maybe not. Haha. I haven't decided. But yeah. Anyways. I'm really sorry for the long wait. I've been working a lot lately to save up money for vacations this summer soo yeah, also, school has been keeping me really busy...I was also in the school play this spring...so yeah...but anyways I hope you like this chapter!!**

A/N: I do not own the conversation about cheerleading between Brooke and Haley. The CW does…and Mark Schwahn…and whoever wrote episode 3X05 "A Multitude of Casualties" I just edited it a little to fit my story, plus it makes me laugh every time I watch it. So with that said, here we go…chapter 10.

Chapter 10:Love Is A Battlefield

Haley and Nathan were making out like crazy on her bed. A few weeks had passed since a "friends with benefits" type of arrangement was initiated. Nathan's hands were roaming all over Haley's body. He kissed her lips and made his way down to her neck, sucking slightly.

"_Great. A hickey. Just what I need."_ Haley thought to herself. She giggled from the touch. It didn't even phase Nathan. He knew she was most ticklish on her neck. Nathan brought his lips back to Haley's. She opened her mouth, allowing Nathan's searching tongue access.

"Have I mentioned…" Nathan said between kisses. "How much I love our little arrangement…"

"A few times, yeah." Haley said breathlessly.

Nathan continued kissing her. His hands made their way slowly and hesitantly up Haley's shirt. Just as he was about to cup her breast, the bedroom door opened. Nathan pulled away quickly and got up of off Haley. He was praying to god that it wasn't Mr. James standing in the doorway. He turned to look in the doorway and instead of Mr. James standing there like he expected, it was Taylor James, with her arms folded and tapping her foot.

"Can I help you?" Haley asked.

"What are you doing?" Taylor asked coldly.

"Um…nothing" Haley replied innocently.

"Not you!" Taylor said in the same tone as before.

She glared at Nathan who was just sitting there completely clueless. Taylor looked back at Haley. "I thought you guys were done?"

"We are. I was tutoring him and I guess things just kind of happened. Its not that big of a deal Taylor"

"Whatever, Haley" Taylor turned to leave and just as she was about to exit the room she looked back at Haley. "I thought you were supposed to be smart…hmm could've fooled me" She shrugged and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Sorry about that" Haley said to Nathan.

"It's cool…Well I guess I better go."

"Hey, Nathan?"

"Yeah?"

"What are we doing?"

"Umm hanging out?"

"No. I meant what are we doing in a larger sense?"

"We're hanging out. Having fun. Why?" Nathan thought for a second. "Wait a minute, is this about what Taylor said? Haley, she's just trying to piss you off. Don't let her get under your skin. Okay? We're hanging out, no strings attached…its not a bad thing."

"I know. But usually someone always gets hurt"

"Well, since part of the title is "friends" with benefits, I guess that means we'll tell each other if we start having other feelings"

Haley nodded but didn't say anything.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow at school, Hales."

"Yeah. See you"

Nathan grabbed his jacket and his backpack and smiled at her right before he left the room.

--

Haley sat on the couch after school doing her trigonometry homework when Brooke walked into her house unannounced.

"I just had a great idea!" Brooke yelled excitedly.

Haley rolled her eyes. "Does it involve trigonometry?"

"I don't know what that is so I _doubt_ it." Brooke sat down on the couch across from Haley. "_You_ are gonna be a cheerleader"

Haley dropped her pen and looked up at Brooke. "What?! I thought we already had this conversation"

"I know, but, I was thinking, you did _such_ a great job filling in at _last_ years tournament that why not do the same thing _this_ year, only permanently"

"Thanks, but I'll pass" Haley said annoyed.

Brooke frowned. "Come on. You're my _friend_. You're supposed to have my _back_. Theresa broke her ankle at practice the other day so we need another girl. Plus, that new Rachel girl, she's stealing my life. My _entire_ squad has a girl-crush on her!"

Haley just stared at Brooke as she spoke.

"Basically, if you do not cheer, I'm screwed!"

"Brooke, I have a _lot_ going on in my life right now. Me and Nathan keep going back and forth between a couple and just friends and now we've entered this whole friends with benefits zone and, okay, maybe I kind of initiated that, but, I think that's all we can really be for now…"

"Why?" Brooke asked not really interested. She was more concerned about her problems at that moment.

"Well, Nathan just gets a lot of pressure about basketball and I just get in the way of that so…if there's no strings attached I'm not in the way. But, basically…the source of all our problems is probably Dan…"

Brooke mockingly gasped at Haley. "Oh. Yeah, _great_, we've solved your riddle. Can we _please_ get back to mine!? Gimme an 'H'!"

"I can't!"

"You can, and besides, I thought your goal was to be with Nathan. You'd be with him all the time: pep rallies, and away games-"

"I know, I-I get it. I just… I think that if I join the cheerleading squad, Nathan would see it as some, like, pathetic attempt to get close to him. I don't want to ruin what we have going on right now. It's not really worth it"

Brooke smirked. "That's funny. It seems to me like _worrying_ about what Nathan thinks is pathetic is _actually_ pretty pathetic. Forget about Nathan. Why don't you do what _you_ want for a change?"

Haley smiled. "OK, I will – no thanks!"

Brooke scoffed. "Let me rephrase that. Why don't you just do what _I_ want for once?"

Haley laughed.

"Come on!" Brooke yelled.

Haley shook her head no and threw her hands up in an I-don't-know-what-to-tell-you type fashion.

"Fine!" Brooke said defeated. Then, she smirked slightly. "Oh, did I mention that Nathan's very often _shirtless_ at practice?"

Haley just stared.

"All the girls notice" Brooke shrugged. "Okay, see ya" Brooke got off the couch and walked towards the door. Haley threw her pillow at Brooke's ass.

"Ah!" Brooke screamed.

Both girls laughed and Brooke exited the house, leaving Haley to finish her homework.

--

"Hey Broody! What's the word?" Brooke asked walking in from the side door of her boyfriends bedroom.

"What's the what?" he asked confused.

"You know…What's the word, like, 'How's it going?'"

Lucas just stared.

Brooke sighed. "I guess I've been talking to Skills too much huh?"

Lucas nodded and pulled his girlfriend in for a kiss. "I guess so…"

Brooke smiled. "So what are we gonna do tonight?"

"I don't know. What do _you_ want to do tonight?"

"Hmm…well, I don't really care. As long as I'm spending time with you"

"You're so cute, Pretty Girl"

"Thanks" Brooke smiled. "I try"

"So what's with Nate and Hales?" Lucas asked curiously but also very randomly.

"Oh my god. Don't even ask" Brooke sighed.

Lucas laughed. "What's going on with them? Nate keeps saying how he's going to see her but they aren't together anymore right?"

"No. Not exclusively at least" Brooke answered.

"Weird…never really pegged Haley as the non-exclusive type of dater"

"Nor did I, but then again I never pegged her as one who would turn down a friend when she asks for help either" Brooke huffed.

"What do you mean?"

"I asked Haley if she would join the cheer squad because we need one more girl and she said no"

"Brooke, I've known Hales my whole life, she is definitely not the cheering type…I mean," Lucas laughed. "She trips over air when she walks…"

"Yeah, well, I need another girl on my squad, otherwise I'm gonna have to let that red-headed bimbo, Rachel, join"

"Brooke don't be mean" Lucas said.

"I'm not! Hel-lo! She is totally ruining my life! I hate high school!"

Lucas just laughed. "Come on, lets go find Peyton"

Brooke huffed. "Fine. But can we go to the mall? I'm having a nervous breakdown. I need some shoes" she whined.

Lucas laughed again. "Of course…"

He stood up and pulled his girlfriend off the bed, holding her hand as they walked out of the door in his bedroom.

--

Peyton was alone in her room trying to record her latest pod cast. She had spent the last 20 minutes on the phone with Brooke listening to her vent about the new girl Rachel and how much she hated her. When she finally managed to get off the phone she sat down on her bed with a microphone and started to record her pod cast.

"So…life has been pretty strange lately…a lot have things have been changing. My friend Haley, who, believe me, is the smartest person I've ever met in my life is now being completely stupid. She's doing this whole friends with benefits thing with this big time jock at school. Which, you know, isn't a bad thing, but if she really has feelings for the guy she can't do friends with benefits. It never works out. Someone always ends up getting hurt. Especially since they dated for a while. I know Haley still has feelings for him and I know that he still has feelings for her. It's just lame high school drama. Speaking of drama…there's this new girl at school…and my friend Brooke has decided that she is "the enemy". I honestly don't know why Brooke hates her so much. I mean she's only spoken to the girl like one time. But whatever. There is no use trying to change Brooke's mind about things like that. Now for the most exciting part of the pod cast…I think I've fallen in love. Very forward, I know. But it's the truth. I really believe that I'm in love. And not like the middle school 'oh my god I love you so much!' kind of love. I'm talking hardcore L-O-V-E. Only problem is…he has no idea. And well, being that he has a girlfriend…I can't exactly tell him. And I know you're probably thinking 'Well telling him is better then not doing anything at all'. But trust me when I tell you…in my case…telling him would be the worst possible thing to do. It's so weird. When I'm around him I get these crazy butterflies in my stomach. And…when I'm not around him I feel lonely and wish he was with me. And little things he says to me just make my day. He is the kind of guy that is always there and will always be there. I really don't know what I'm gonna do. I'm tired of keeping it to myself but I honestly can't tell anybody without someone else getting hurt…which is worse than me having to keep it inside…

**Hmm...I wonder who Little Miss Peyton is talking about...haha review it guys!!**


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